Newsletter n. 763
“No to the dam”: project for building the Estreito hydroelectric power plant is interrupted by a judicial decision
During a meeting at the Ministry of Justice in Brasília, 40 leaders of the four indigenous peoples affected by the Estreito hydroelectric power plant reaffirmed their position of saying “No to the Dam.” During the meeting, which was held on Tuesday, the 24th, they expressed their concern with the impact of the project on their lifestyle and expressed their solidarity by allowing representatives of quilombola (descendants of runaway slaves) and riverine communities to attend the meeting and voice their concerns.
Because of the negative reaction to the building of the plant, the participants did not even discuss actions to mitigate its impacts. This posture was strengthened after a preliminary decision was issued by a federal court in Imperatriz, in the state of Maranhão, determining that the building of the Estreito power plant was to be suspended because of problems in its environmental licensing process. The sentence of the judge, which was issued on Friday, came in response to a public civil action filed by the Indianist Missionary Council (Cimi) and by the Association for the Development and Preservation of the Araguaia and Tocantins Rivers (Adeprato) in June 2006.
Migration, violence, changes in the life of rivers flowing to the Tocantins river which cross indigenous lands, enhanced pressure on lands – particularly as a result of the arrival of populations from cities that will be flooded -, and growth of the population of cities located near the project site were some of the issues raised by the indigenous people at the meeting.
After over six hours of discussions, the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai) pledged to support the decision of the Krahô, Apinajá, Krikati and Gavião peoples. However, no concrete actions to ensure this support were discussed during the meeting.
Marcio Meira, the president of Funai who was assigned to the position one month ago, recognized the failures of the institution during the licensing process and pledged to visit the communities. The indigenous people accepted the visit, but made it clear that the actions of public authorities in the region should not be seen as actions in support of the projects. “Let the visit show that you want the area to be evacuated and the lands to be demarcated, because this is the role of Funai. You don’t even have to talk about the dam,” Antônio Apinajé said.
During the meeting, the Brazilian Institute for the Environment (Ibama) said that it will appeal against the judicial decision. “The licensing is correct and there is no possibility of canceling the license granted by Ibama for the dam to be built. We will appeal to the courts,” the director of the environmental licensing department of Ibama, Luiz Felippe Kunz, said.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office continues to challenge the Environmental Impact Study of the project and wants public discussions on the project to be held. During the meeting in Brasília, Deborah Duprat, a deputy federal attorney, said that she is preparing other actions and challenged the fact that the project has not taken into account the presence of communities of descendants of runaway slaves (quilombolas) and of riverine populations in the region. “Only the Environmental Impact Study can determine if the environmental and social impacts of the project are worthwhile in the name of development or progress. Only this study can define the influence of the project, and it must be discussed by the public at large,” she said.
The mobilization continues
Indigenous people, landless rural workers and riverine communities remained camped next to the project site until Thursday morning. After the works were suspended, they returned to their villages. On April 16, about 500 people blocked the Belém-Brasília highway for 11 hours near the Estreito city, on the border between the states of Maranhão and Tocantins, to protest against the building of the plant.
Besides the protest, the leaders have been disseminating the risks posed by the power plant to the population of the city. This week, they attended a meeting held at the City Council of Estreito and showed videos in squares of the city on the impacts of other dams in nearby cities.
Political pressure is mounting against demarcation of lands in Santa Catarina; organizations react
Two notes issued Thursday morning by Cimi and the Forum in Defense of Indigenous Rights (FDDI) report political pressures against the demarcation of indigenous lands in the state of Santa Catarina. On April 19, the minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, signed an administrative ruling declaring four lands in the state as indigenous lands – all of which were included in a list of 34 lands whose processes were stalled at the ministry of Justice and three of which had a decision pending since 2001.
The note issued by Cimi says that “anti-indigenous sectors in the state of Santa Catarina have been using newspapers to say that farmers have armed themselves and there may be bloodshed.”
The note issued by the Forum also focuses on actions of representatives who are against the demarcation of indigenous lands. “For a long time these representatives have been making threats and have been hindering the demarcation of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples in Santa Catarina. In recent years, public hearings were held at the External Committee of the Senate and at the Legislative Assembly of Santa Catarina, and many caravans of mayors and state representatives came to Brasília intent on preventing any demarcation of indigenous lands in the State. In this context, an illegal “Special Committee for Indigenous Issues” was set up at the Ministry of Justice by former minister Márcio Thomas Bastos to “follow up” on matters related to indigenous lands and suggest solutions for indigenous issues in Santa Catarina. After the Committee was set up, no indigenous land has been recognized as such.”
The regional South office of Cimi said that all families of farmers now have the right to be indemnified for improvements made in lands they have been occupying: squatters will be resettled by the Land Reform Institute (Incra) and improvements made in good faith in farms will be indemnified by the state of Santa Catarina. This action is provided for in the State Constitution for cases in which the state government allowed lands to be invaded and issued title deeds to lands which farmers bought from companies in charge of settling people in different areas. “Actions are therefore necessary to force the state of Santa Catarina to indemnify small farmers immediately.” And more: “This is how we believe justice will be done for indigenous peoples and small farmers who were victims of the same system which promotes large land landownership schemes. In order not to displease large landowners, the state encouraged and legalized invasions of indigenous lands,” said the regional South office of Cimi.
Indianist Missionary Council – Cimi
Brasília, April 26, 2006
